Biz & IT —

What does Windows 8.1 offer to desktop die-hards?

No Start menu, but there are still reasons to give 8.1 a second look.

Many parts of the Windows 8 user interface have been given some love in Windows 8.1. Some of these changes focus on the Metro side of the fence. But that doesn't mean that Microsoft forgot about desktop users—Windows 8.1 includes a number of small tweaks that should make them more comfortable.

This first is the obvious and much-trumpeted return of the Start button on the taskbar. I've written about this and don't really like it. It doesn't satisfy those users who demand nothing short of the return of the Start menu, and it doesn't really do anything to help with Windows 8's learning curve. But in conjunction with some other changes in Windows 8.1, it might still find some fans.

The desktop-oriented options are all hidden away in the taskbar's properties page. They give a fair bit of control over aspects of Windows 8's behavior, including the ability to turn off some fairly fundamental features.

Configuring those all-important settings to put the desktop (mostly) front and center.

The top left (app switcher) and top right (charms) hot corners can both be disabled. The respective features can still be used from the bottom left corners, which can't be disabled. I presume that this reduces inadvertent exposure of the switcher and charms when trying to use the close button or system menu (though I would note that even when the ghosted charms appear from mousing into the top right, you can still click the red X to close an app. It's at worst a visual distraction and not a functional issue).

Windows 8's super handy Windows-X menu (also shown by right-clicking the bottom left corner of the screen) has a couple of alterations. First, there's a setting to replace its two Command Prompt links (standard user and Administrator) with equivalent PowerShell links. For system administrators and other PowerShell users this might be great, though I'm mystified as to why it's an option. There's plenty of space on the menu; why not just include both sets of links instead of one or the other?

The menu also addresses one of Windows 8's more awkward tasks: shutting down. Back when Windows 95 was introduced, much of the world, especially the Mac-using world, laughed at the fact that you had to go to Start in order to stop the computer. Eighteen years down the line, however, and many Windows users are confused that you can't currently use Start to stop the computer. Instead, the power option has moved to a settings charm.

In Windows 8.1, the Windows-X menu has a new Shut Down menu. This lets you suspend, shut down, and reboot all without using the charms. Surprisingly, it doesn't include a log out option.

To make the Start screen a little less painful for Start menu adherents, Microsoft has a quintet of options that modify its behavior. Of particular interest are the ability to use the desktop background behind the Start screen, the ability to boot straight to the desktop, and the ability to default to All Apps view rather than tile view.

Together, these provide an experience that's quite a bit more Windows 7-like. Booting the machine goes straight to the desktop, and opening Start shows a bunch of dumb icons rather than a set of live tiles. Normally All Apps puts Modern apps ahead of desktop ones; there's also an option to reverse that and put desktop apps first.

These changes can reintroduce some of the familiarity that was lost in the transition to Windows 8. I suspect that many people will argue they don't go far enough and that nothing short of a full Xbox One-style reversal will do.

I don't, however, believe that Microsoft is going to relent on the Start screen. The new app launcher does the job well enough, and live tiles are a genuinely useful capability. The tile design is taking on an important branding role across the company (being more or less shared across phone, tablet, PC, and console), and that unification makes any backtracking very unlikely. There are plenty of third-party Start menu implementations. If the issue is truly a deal-breaker, I would suggest that you investigate one of those.

For those who are less devoted to the old menu but still wedded to the desktop and desktop apps, the new options are a decent compromise between Windows 7 and Windows 8. They put you on the desktop and make the Start screen a little bit less alien. It's a result that's all around satisfactory.

Another welcome addition to 8.1: Invoking the search charm (Win+Q) from the desktop no longer switches to the all-apps start screen. Instead you can search for apps (or files, webpages, etc.) from a sidebar on the desktop.

Although the hot-key is slightly different, you can now search-launch apps without loosing the view of your desktop or installing any 3rd party utilities.

I'm kind of baffled at how Microsoft could so painfully miss the point of the noise people were making about the removal of the start button.

The start button is quite antiquated, and it isn't exactly an efficient way to deliver information. The start screen may not be the best way to deliver the information, but it can provide application lists (with more apps per screen than the start menu), live feeds of text and pictures, and alerts.

I don't get all the whining about the Start button. The only time I use the Start button is to search, but with Windows 8, you can do that even faster. Just give me access to the Search and Run hotkeys I'd be all set, just like windows 7.

Windows 8 is still a bit of a hot mess for desktop users. It baffles me how they didn't realize that desktop users will have different use cases. Going full touch is like Chevy replacing their pickup line completely with El Caminos because pony cars sell well.

Overall I like windows 8... dont really miss the start button. except for file explorer random crash (think due to goodle drive) windows 8 is really OK. Its not really hard to click on a tile to go to desktop.

Complaigners will always find something to bitch about.. first its MS dosent inovate and when they try something new its like OMG they changed it.

Saying that there are various settings you can change to make it more desk-like (or third party software you can add to make it more desk-like (like Classic Shell) are not POSITIVE reasons to switch from an OS like Windows 7 that is already desk-like.

as someone who uses a lot of virtual machines and remote desktop sessions i'm very glad they brought back the start button. Currently i'm stuck digging into menus, or more likely trying to hit the tiny hot corner in an rdp window to launch anything which is a major PITA.

Question of the day: is there any way to access the win+x menu on a touch-only system? Currently you can only bring up that "power user" menu with a mouse, or a keyboard with a Windows key (which is missing from the on-screen keyboard).

I'm kind of baffled at how Microsoft could so painfully miss the point of the noise people were making about the removal of the start button.

The start button is quite antiquated, and it isn't exactly an efficient way to deliver information. The start screen may not be the best way to deliver the information, but it can provide application lists (with more apps per screen than the start menu), live feeds of text and pictures, and alerts.

Plus, Microsoft wants to build up the app store for future profit.

This has always been my issue with the start screen. I never, ever used the start menu to acquire information. I used it to load something that gave me information. To me, all the moving tiles are simply a distraction.

I'm not at all saying that everyone has to agree with me, but I think that this is why so many people don't like the start screen. Many people that really don't like computers took a long time getting used to that start menu. They already found it complicated, but they made it do what they wanted it to. Now, it has been replaced with something that looks simple but is actually nuanced, complex, and dynamic.

Overall I like windows 8... dont really miss the start button. except for file explorer random crash (think due to goodle drive) windows 8 is really OK. Its not really hard to click on a tile to go to desktop.

Complaigners will always find something to bitch about.. first its MS dosent inovate and when they try something new its like OMG they changed it.

The desktop environment is what 30 years old time for an update...

This.

I actually like it, got use to it quickly, and wouldn't want to go back.

Nothing is ever perfect, and at least they are trying to innovate. If 8 was just a trumped up copy of what we've all been using since 95, people would be bitching about MS running out of original ideas.

So, let's all adapt, help those who struggle, or just go get another OS.

To all of you relentless, whining Windows 8 haters: it seems to me that you could solve all your problems and make your lives complete by simply getting a Mac, Linux, or Chromebook. Or, by sticking with your XP dinosaur or Windows 7 (which is still widely available, by the way). And yet, you devote hours and hours to pissing and moaning about the tiniest thing you dislike in Windows 8. What's your point? At the shoe store, do you buy the least comfortable shoes to give yourself something to bitch about for the next year? Marry someone you hate? I'm mystified.

@batmaneulJust because an interface accommodates touch, does not mean it's not better with mouse and keyboard too. People keep asserting that like it falls out of general relativity, or something.

It just doesn't work as well. For example, a flat list of apps is way harder to navigate than nested Start Menu folders you can organize as needed. And don't say you can just search for the app you need, because needing to use a keyboard to find what you need on a mouse driven UI means that UI has failed. Having two different control panels that are necessary to fully configure and OS is also a big fail. Win 8 doesn't commit to either the touch or mouse driven paradigms, so it winds up being mediocre for either use. Start Menu apps look especially bad on a high resolution 27" because they take up the whole screen, which is kind of against the whole point of a big high red display

I don't see how anyone who has actually taken time to use W8 can say that. You are probably just trolling, but here's a list of reasons why you want to upgrade to W8 even if you are not a big fan of some changes:

To all of you relentless, whining Windows 8 haters: it seems to me that you could solve all your problems and make your lives complete by simply getting a Mac, Linux, or Chromebook. Or, sticking with your XP dinosaur or Windows 7 (which is still widely available, by the way). And yet, you devote hours and hours to pissing and moaning about the tiniest thing you dislike in Windows 8. What's your point? At the shoe store, do you buy the least comfortable shoes to give yourself something to bitch about for the next year? Marry someone you hate? I'm mystified.

Rude and dismissive comments like yours don't help the problem or actually offer any way to fix the situation. Furthermore, Windows XP is already deprecated and some applications already don't work with it. Soon, Windows 7 will be in the same boat when Windows 9 comes out.

The things people don't like with Win8 aren't going to disappear with Windows 9... they'll just get worse, unless we make a big enough stink to let Microsoft know what the real problem is. Personally, I think they DO know, but only a strategy of NOT using or buying Metro apps will get MS's attention.

I posted this opinion in the Hands-on thread, but it was on the 4th page, and it's relevant because this article was about the Desktop:

I think the Start Screen is the new version of the ActiveX desktop. I never saw it used to good effect but it allowed animated widgets connected to the web to display info on the desktop. What do most people have on their desktop? Application launcher icons. What do you get if you cross application launcher icons with animated widgets sucking down information from the web? The Start Screen. Yes we laughed when we first saw the ActiveX Desktop, but now may be the time when it finally fullfils its potential!

To all of you relentless, whining Windows 8 haters: it seems to me that you could solve all your problems and make your lives complete by simply getting a Mac, Linux, or Chromebook. Or, by sticking with your XP dinosaur or Windows 7 (which is still widely available, by the way). And yet, you devote hours and hours to pissing and moaning about the tiniest thing you dislike in Windows 8. What's your point? At the shoe store, do you buy the least comfortable shoes to give yourself something to bitch about for the next year? Marry someone you hate? I'm mystified.

We want all the cool new stuff under the hood without all of the touch centric crap that is worse than useless if you are using a mouse and keyboard with a big display. A more refined Win 7 is all we wanted, we never asked for a whole second operating system to be glued on top of the old Windows UI that works fine. It's A case of breaking what already worked great.

I don't get all the whining about the Start button. The only time I use the Start button is to search, but with Windows 8, you can do that even faster. Just give me access to the Search and Run hotkeys I'd be all set, just like windows 7.

I'm glad some people like the tiles. But not everyone does. Choice is good. Let me give you an example of where your model fails. You visit a friend (or use your partner's computer). You're looking for a word processor. You type in "office", nothing comes up. You type in "word", nothing comes up. You can sit there all day "guessing", or traverse 500 tiles that are randomly scattered all over the screen, or use hierarchical menus to narrow down quickly. I'll let you guess which way is easiest to find that your partner had "works" installed.

From what i'm hearing and seeing, 8.1 sounds like an improvement. Peter's suggestion of using a 3rd party start menu (if that floats your boat) is wise. I've put a few friends up to Windows 8, but always with a start menu

as someone who uses a lot of virtual machines and remote desktop sessions i'm very glad they brought back the start button. Currently i'm stuck digging into menus, or more likely trying to hit the tiny hot corner in an rdp window to launch anything which is a major PITA.

I have to RDP all the time to server 2012 hosts. alt+home == start button

I actually like it, got use to it quickly, and wouldn't want to go back.

Nothing is ever perfect, and at least they are trying to innovate. If 8 was just a trumped up copy of what we've all been using since 95, people would be bitching about MS running out of original ideas.

So, let's all adapt, help those who struggle, or just go get another OS.

So how is a page metaphor for displaying information and running programs actually an improvement over the desktop metaphor? With multiple monitors? With the exception of games, I haven't used a fullscreen application since the DOS days - and I'm not going back. If that means sticking with Windows 7 for gaming... and moving on to another OS for work; so be it.

Yes, I know there's a desktop, but Metro UI is the future along with full screen apps.

With the new Start button behaving a lot like Launchpad - MS is making easier to be a "switcher".

The struggle that I have had with Windows 8 is that you are essentially working in two environments. For instance say you wanted to listen to music while writing a paper:

1. Go to desktop to launch MS word. 2. Launch IE in the metro interface, pull up Pandora, Google music, etc. to fire up music.3. Go back to desktop to start working while listening to music.

What's that? you can't hear anything? Oh, right you have to fire up a browser within the desktop to actually hear the music when in desktop environment.

That is a mind-boggling stupidly idiotic way to construct an OS. It's essentially two OS's (Metro and desktop) with different UIs that don't communicate with each other in any reasonable form.

I think Windows 8 is pretty, but it's a huge step back as far as mouse and keyboard usability go. Long story short, it takes more steps to get things done in Windows 8 vs. Windows 7 and there is greater complexity for the user as to what is the correct action in any given instance (right click? Left click? hover? corner drag? hot key?) and there is greater uncertainty as to what the action will do (open in metro? Open in desktop? full screen? windowed? App? program?).

Honest question: How do Windows 8 apologists see this as a step forward in terms of usability? 8.1 makes it a bit better, but its still a huge step back from Windows 7.

<quote>The top left (app switcher) and top right (charms) hot corners can both be disabled. The respective features can still be used from the bottom left corners, which can't be disabled. I presume that this reduces inadvertent exposure of the switcher and charms when trying to use the close button or system menu (though I would note that even when the ghosted charms appear from mousing into the top right, you can still click the red X to close an app. It's at worst a visual distraction and not a functional issue).</quote>

I can't wait for 8.1 because of this annoyance, I'm one of those people who likes to use all my screen real estate and frequently has apps full screen or snapped to the corners. That said, I had NO idea that you could click the close button through the charms bar and for nearly a year I've been the sucker moving the mouse away again to make the bar disappear. The UI of Win 8 just created so many headaches, I hope 8.1 can improve them again.

Saying that there are various settings you can change to make it more desk-like (or third party software you can add to make it more desk-like (like Classic Shell) are not POSITIVE reasons to switch from an OS like Windows 7 that is already desk-like.

Why is this getting upvoted? There are about 5 or 6 great things Windows 8 offers that Windows 7 doesn't, like ridiculously fast boot-up, decent multi-monitor support, native USB 3.0, a more useful Task Manager, Refresh and Reset, and a few others.

Ars, clearly, was noting that most people disliked the forced Metro UI. Now that it isn't so forced, for some users now, Windows 8.1 can tip the scales with its above features.

tl;dr: there are already many POSITIVE reasons to switch to Windows 8. Now that 8.1 has somewhat mitigated the NEGATIVE reasons not to switch, the POSITIVE ones are now more potent.

There seems to be a bit of a divide here. You've got people who don't like the removal of the Start button (disclosure: I'm one of them) and then people who seem to think that the Metro interface is not only serviceable but usable.

To those who propose using OS X or Linux -- given that we're talking about Windows users here, abandoning a platform over one feature seems like throwing out the baby with the bathwater. Suggesting XP or Windows 7 is more reasonable, but at the same time -- these people are of course completely (and unsurprisingly) missing the point.

The reason that many people are complaining is because Windows 8 is the next iteration of the operating system that we use (for one reason or another). While the Start button issue is annoying, the fact of the matter is that Windows 8 still has many great features we'd like to take advantage of. For one reason or another, some of us rely on the Start button what MS is doing with 8.1 seems more like a 'fuck you' to those who want their Start button back (oh look, we gave you what you want -- hahah -- no we didn't, it just takes you to the screen you dislike).

In the end, there's no good reason to remove it -- other than to bend everyone to their will. Why not just leave it in there and make it an option you have to turn on? I doubt many people will care if you don't add any functionality to it in future revisions -- just don't remove it.

To all of you relentless, whining Windows 8 haters: it seems to me that you could solve all your problems and make your lives complete by simply getting a Mac, Linux, or Chromebook. Or, by sticking with your XP dinosaur or Windows 7 (which is still widely available, by the way). And yet, you devote hours and hours to pissing and moaning about the tiniest thing you dislike in Windows 8. What's your point? At the shoe store, do you buy the least comfortable shoes to give yourself something to bitch about for the next year? Marry someone you hate? I'm mystified.

We want all the cool new stuff under the hood without all of the touch centric crap that is worse than useless if you are using a mouse and keyboard with a big display. A more refined Win 7 is all we wanted, we never asked for a whole second operating system to be glued on top of the old Windows UI that works fine. It's A case of breaking what already worked great.

OK, thank you for saying something that makes sense and has not been said hundreds of thousands of times before. I guess I must agree with you, because as much as I love my Windows 8 tablet, I've also got an unopened copy of Win8 sitting on the tower of my multi-monitor Win7 desktop, waiting until I feel like dealing with it there (I think 8.1 is going to make the difference on that PC).

I'm not asking anyone to like something just because I happen to like it. I read a lot of tech publications, and I'm frustrated with the hundreds of thousands of comments all complaining about essentially the same few things, nitpicking about things most people wouldn't even have noticed, and talking (off topic) about the wonders of OSX.